Japantown

Japantown - Pagoda - Shopping Center - Ikebana

The weather is really nice today with temperatures hovering around 70 degrees outside. Wanting to take advantage of this, I decided to visit Japantown on the spur of the moment with little planning. (Yes, that doesn't really sound like me, but I try to be spontaneous once in a while! LOL)

Being the "green" person I am (okay, I just like the luxury of not having to drive), I took the bus out to downtown and then waited for the bus lines 2, 3 or 4 on Sutter Street. These buses all go along Sutter up to Japantown. I got off at the intersection of Sutter and Laguna, or once I started seeing Japanesy architecture in the buildings around me.

Japantown consists basically of a shopping center, a pagoda structure and the Peace Plaza. I went into the shopping center, which has many stores selling stationery items, Japanese food restaurants and stores selling videos.

I saw some people in the shopping center, but it really wasn't that busy. That could either be a factor of the economic downturn or the shopping center itself just doesn't attract people. Overall, the Peace Plaza was relatively clean. However, when I went to use one of the restrooms in the mall, it was surprisingly dirty looking.

In my book, Japantown doesn't rank high on my list of must-see places in San Francisco. If tourists want a taste of Japan, I would recommend they instead go to the Japanese Tea House in Golden Gate Park.